Post by julian on Mar 19, 2008 18:19:10 GMT -5
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE (16 December 1917 – 19 March 2008)
Arthur Charles Clarke was born on December 16, 1917 in Minehead, England. He was the first child of Mary Nora (Willis) Clarke and Charles Wright Clarke, who fought in WWI. When Charles Clarke was discharged, after the end of WWI, in 1918, the family moved to a farm called Beetham, near the town of Chard, also in the county of Somerset, England. Clarke's brother, Frederick William, was born in 1921. His sister, Mary, and his other brother, Michael, were born sometime after that (date unknown). Because of financial problems with the farm, it was sold at a loss and in 1924, the Clarkes moved to Ballifants, another farm. In 1927, Clarke started Huish's Grammar School. Unfortunately, when Clarke was only 13, his father, Charles Clarke died in a Bristol hospital in May of 1931.
As a child and teenager, Arthur loved to experiment with telescopes and rockets. He graduated from Huish's in 1936 and left that same year for London. He got a job at the Exchequer and Audit Department of the Civil Service. Also in London, he joined the British Interplanetary Society. There he started to experiment with astronautic material in the BIS, as well as write for the BIS Bulletin.
During WWII, Clarke served as a R(oyal) A(ir) F(orce) officer and was in charge of the first radar talk-down equipment, the Ground Controlled Approach, during its experimental trials. His novel Glide Path is based on this work. He served in the RAF for five years. After the war, he returned to London, where he was a chairman of the BIS, in 1946-1947 and 1950-1953. He enrolled in Kings College, London in 1946, pursuing a bachelor of science degree. His first major work, The Sands of Mars, was published in 1951.
Clarke is credited with the invention of the communications satellite because of his technical paper "Extra-terrestrial Relays," (1945) which lays down the principles of the satellite communication with satellites in geostationary orbits. Because of this, he was made a Fellow of King's College and received the 1982 Marconi International Fellowship.
Arthur Clarke married Marilyn Mayfield, an American, on June 15, 1953. However, the marriage didn't last very long at all-they were divorced in December of 1953. Clarke remarked about his marriage-"The marriage was incompatible from the beginning. It was sufficient proof that I wasn't the marrying type, although I think everybody should marry once."
In 1954, Clarke returned to experiments with satellites. He wrote to Dr Harry Wexler, the chief of the Scientific Services Division, U.S. Weather Bureau, at that time, about satellite applications for weather forecasting. Of these communications, a new branch of meteorology was born, and rockets and satellites for meteorological research and operations started to be used.
In 1964, he started to work with Stanley Kubrick on a Sci-Fi movie script. The movie took a lot of work and endured many delays but was finally released in 1968, as 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Apollo 8 astronauts (Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders), who made the first circumnavigation of the moon in December of 1968, saw the movie before they left. William Anders said, "I remember thinking at the time I saw the picture that it might be worth a chuckle to mention finding a monolith during our Apollo flight." And Clarke says, "I have never quite forgiven Bill Anders for resisting the temptation." Kubrick and Clarke also shared an Oscar Academy Award nomination for the film.
Clarke's success with the film and the novel continued as he co-broadcasted the Apollo 11 , 12 and 15 missions with Walter Cronkite and Wally Schirra for CBS. He won many awards for his work, including the Kalinga Prize, the Bradford Washburn Award, and the Hugo, Nebula, and John W. Campbell awards, which are the highest awards in science fiction. His biggest honor, however, may be the CBE (Commander of the British Empire) honor which was bestowed upon him by Queen Elizabeth in 1989.
Arthur C. Clarke is still actively writing and experimenting today. His interests have changed somewhat-from the outermost reaches of space, to the deepest depths of the sea. He has been doing underwater explorations in the Great Barrier Reef and along the coast of Sri Lanka since he moved to Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1956.
Arthur Charles Clarke was born on December 16, 1917 in Minehead, England. He was the first child of Mary Nora (Willis) Clarke and Charles Wright Clarke, who fought in WWI. When Charles Clarke was discharged, after the end of WWI, in 1918, the family moved to a farm called Beetham, near the town of Chard, also in the county of Somerset, England. Clarke's brother, Frederick William, was born in 1921. His sister, Mary, and his other brother, Michael, were born sometime after that (date unknown). Because of financial problems with the farm, it was sold at a loss and in 1924, the Clarkes moved to Ballifants, another farm. In 1927, Clarke started Huish's Grammar School. Unfortunately, when Clarke was only 13, his father, Charles Clarke died in a Bristol hospital in May of 1931.
As a child and teenager, Arthur loved to experiment with telescopes and rockets. He graduated from Huish's in 1936 and left that same year for London. He got a job at the Exchequer and Audit Department of the Civil Service. Also in London, he joined the British Interplanetary Society. There he started to experiment with astronautic material in the BIS, as well as write for the BIS Bulletin.
During WWII, Clarke served as a R(oyal) A(ir) F(orce) officer and was in charge of the first radar talk-down equipment, the Ground Controlled Approach, during its experimental trials. His novel Glide Path is based on this work. He served in the RAF for five years. After the war, he returned to London, where he was a chairman of the BIS, in 1946-1947 and 1950-1953. He enrolled in Kings College, London in 1946, pursuing a bachelor of science degree. His first major work, The Sands of Mars, was published in 1951.
Clarke is credited with the invention of the communications satellite because of his technical paper "Extra-terrestrial Relays," (1945) which lays down the principles of the satellite communication with satellites in geostationary orbits. Because of this, he was made a Fellow of King's College and received the 1982 Marconi International Fellowship.
Arthur Clarke married Marilyn Mayfield, an American, on June 15, 1953. However, the marriage didn't last very long at all-they were divorced in December of 1953. Clarke remarked about his marriage-"The marriage was incompatible from the beginning. It was sufficient proof that I wasn't the marrying type, although I think everybody should marry once."
In 1954, Clarke returned to experiments with satellites. He wrote to Dr Harry Wexler, the chief of the Scientific Services Division, U.S. Weather Bureau, at that time, about satellite applications for weather forecasting. Of these communications, a new branch of meteorology was born, and rockets and satellites for meteorological research and operations started to be used.
In 1964, he started to work with Stanley Kubrick on a Sci-Fi movie script. The movie took a lot of work and endured many delays but was finally released in 1968, as 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Apollo 8 astronauts (Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders), who made the first circumnavigation of the moon in December of 1968, saw the movie before they left. William Anders said, "I remember thinking at the time I saw the picture that it might be worth a chuckle to mention finding a monolith during our Apollo flight." And Clarke says, "I have never quite forgiven Bill Anders for resisting the temptation." Kubrick and Clarke also shared an Oscar Academy Award nomination for the film.
Clarke's success with the film and the novel continued as he co-broadcasted the Apollo 11 , 12 and 15 missions with Walter Cronkite and Wally Schirra for CBS. He won many awards for his work, including the Kalinga Prize, the Bradford Washburn Award, and the Hugo, Nebula, and John W. Campbell awards, which are the highest awards in science fiction. His biggest honor, however, may be the CBE (Commander of the British Empire) honor which was bestowed upon him by Queen Elizabeth in 1989.
Arthur C. Clarke is still actively writing and experimenting today. His interests have changed somewhat-from the outermost reaches of space, to the deepest depths of the sea. He has been doing underwater explorations in the Great Barrier Reef and along the coast of Sri Lanka since he moved to Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1956.